A man in his late twenties was lying on the ground. His left arm was completely detached from the shoulder, severed cleanly, and lying a few feet away. A strange, grotesque hand was still pierced through the right side of his abdomen. It belonged to a demon.
Beside him lay a woman in her early thirties, half-conscious and heavily injured. She wore a tight-fitting fighting attire. The one hunters normally wear. But on her shoulder, an epaulet gleamed, marked with a crossed sword. A warrior-level hunter.
"Derek, are you okay?" Her voice came weakly. It was soft, melodious… but laced with pain.
"Why won't I be okay, Captain?" Derek replied, trying to act fine, hiding his suffering. "But I think the next one's coming…."
"Yeah… hard to believe. After everything we've done, we only managed to bring down just one of the upper ten demons. And…" She couldn't finish the sentence, but the weight of her words hung heavy in the air.
"I'll kill whoever comes next. Those bastards won't leave alive," Derek growled, his eyes burning with fury.
"What's the point?" she whispered. "Everyone's dead. Just the two of us are left. Even if we manage to kill one more… what about the rest? The other eight? And the three generals after that?"
"It doesn't matter if it's hopeless. Doesn't matter if I can kill all of them or just one… or maybe not even one. But as long as I'm breathing, I'll keep hunting them down. I'll fight with every last drop of strength I have left."
His voice didn't waver, even as blood dripped from his lips. His spirit remained intact, even on the edge of death. But the pain in his eyes was undeniable. His silent tears weren't just for pain… they were for the memories of those he had lost. The fallen comrades, the people he loved. Not just his loved ones or comrades but every single human. Only these two remained. Humanity was about to become extinct.
The woman opened her mouth to respond….
But just then, the space started to distort in the distance.
The earth was trembling. The sky split open and a massive rupture tore through the air, like a hole ripping through reality. And from within… they came.
Two figures stepped out.
Both had human faces—but that's the only part that resembled humans.
One had a body entirely made of red metallic plates, towering at nearly twice the size of a human. Where its eyeballs should've been, the digit 8 glowed and flickered like an ominous presence.
The other one was a silver giant, almost six meters tall, with three pairs of arms and wild black hair. It had the digit 7 glowing in its eye.
"Derek… they're here. Two at once… This is the end, isn't it?" The female's voice trembled.
"Don't worry, Captain," Derek said coldly. "I'll slaughter them both."
He gripped his sword and pushed himself up using it as a support. His legs barely supported him. But hatred was stronger than pain. Rage burned fiercer than fear.
"Come!! Meet your end you ugly bitches." he roared, charging forward.
"Khekhekhe!
Looks like two little bugs are still breathing," the red one with a metal body laughed.
"Make it quick, Gazel. Our lord is waiting. We need to prepare this place for his arrival," the giant in silver colour said calmly, like giving orders on a battlefield.
"The lord can wait, can't he?" Gazel smirked. "Just these two are left on this planet. After this, I don't know when we'll get another chance to enjoy ourselves again."
"Whatever. Just don't take long," the giant replied in a bored tone.
Without another word, Gazel lunged forward, his laughter echoing through the blood-soaked battlefield.
He had a double-bladed sword. He whirled it while charging toward Derek. He looked overjoyed. The thrill of toying with an opponent surged through both his mind and heart.
And Derek? He looked ferocious. Like a wounded lion charging at its killer.
Both clashed with a clang.
Derek skidded back almost 15 metres like he was hit by a bull. But Gazel just stood there like nothing happened. Then he swung again at Derek. They engaged in a duel.
From afar the woman's eyes were locked on the duel. Her name was Venessa. Venessa Lamprogue. "He is strong. Only if he could use aura, then we wouldn't be in this mess." She whispered.
Both Gazel and Derek kept clashing. Each time their strike met, Derek felt the blow. He was already devastated. Had multiple injuries, one hand was missing. Blood continuously dripped from his stomach wound.
Suddenly a heavy blow came from Gazel. His blade cut Derek's sword in half. The cut part flew away with a cling!
Gazel then kicked his chest with a bang sending him flying like a ragdoll.
Derek crashed on the ground followed by two bounces.
Strength almost left his body. Tears were pouring out uncontrollably. He wanted revenge. But his body was betraying him.
Gritting his teeth he stood back up. He was very weak at the moment, barely stopping himself from collapsing, but rage was coiling in his heart like fume spiralling in the air.
His grip tightened on his sword hilt. "I will kill you. I will kill you all." He repeated those words like a chant. He was consumed by rage, regret, helplessness, and whatnot.
And then suddenly…..
Something inside him snapped. His veins bulged, his breath rattled, and for a moment it felt as if something… not human… was clawing to break free.
His eyes turned black. An ominous aura started to flare up from his body. He looked like he was drooling. His black hole-like eyes narrowed. His presence felt suffocating. But for some reason...
It seemed as if he was actually unconscious…
Both Gazel and the giant were alerted. So was Venessa. "What's with this suffocating sensation? Why does it feel like I can't even breathe properly? Derek, what the hell had you been hiding for this long?"
All of them could feel this sudden change in the air. Even to those two demons, it felt terrifying.
"Gazel watch ou…." The giant wanted to warn his comrade.
But it was too late. Derek, who looked like he was being controlled by some ominous, creepy existence, blurred from his position.
And the next moment…..
He was in front of Gazel..
Swoosh!
Nobody saw Derek move. But it felt like his hand stirred….just for a moment.
But Gazel stared at him in sheer fear. And then….
His body was split in half vertically from his waist. His upper half fell with a thud. Then collapsed his lower half kicking up the dust.
The giant turned back and tried to run. "That's demonic aura. It's exactly like the lo…." He couldn't even finish his words. Derek was standing in front of him.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
His hand holding the broken sword moved like a blur.
The giant looked at his body in a daze. It was still intact. But then….
Shclk!
It fell apart like a chopped tomato.
Both the upper demons…..Dead!
Venessa's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she just witnessed.
"Derek.." she wanted to call out to him and ask what the hell just happened. But just then….
Derek's body turned normal again and collapsed like a corpse.
"No," Venessa shouted, panicked.